Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testifying in January 2013 to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.Credit Christopher Gregory for The New York Times

Good Thursday morning. The two big open questions that have been hanging over Washington for weeks seem to be resolved as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.announced that he would not seek the presidency, and Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin received the pledge of unity that could clear his path toward becoming speaker of the House. And the answers could keep rolling in as Hillary Rodham Clinton is set to testify on the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

After months of sparring at a distance, Mrs. Clinton will face the House special committee on Benghazi in a highly anticipated hearing that has become as big of a test for the committee as it is for her.

Mrs. Clinton, the former secretary of state, is scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. in the Ways and Means Committee room before the 12-member panel — seven Republicans and five Democrats. Questioning could easily last the entire day as the panel tries to establish her role in setting administration policy on Libya, handling diplomatic security, the attack on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, and, of course, her now-famous use of a private email system.

But the atmosphere for the hearing will be markedly different than it would have been even a few weeks ago. Remarks by Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican majority leader, that credited the panel with driving down Mrs. Clinton’s poll numbers have unleashed a torrent of criticism — some by other Republicans — that the main objective of the taxpayer-funded effort is to harm her presidential bid. Representative Trey Gowdy, the South Carolina Republican who is chairman of the panel, has vociferously denied the suggestion of partisanship. But Republicans on the committee will be doing their best to appear evenhanded, certainly in the early part of the proceedings that will probably draw the most public attention via television and the Internet.

Mrs. Clinton has some goals of her own. She needs to take the Republican questioners seriously, appear forthcoming and not defensive about her role, and remain composed during what will be hours of hostile and probing interrogation. Her visible frustration over Republican questioning about the cause of the attack at a 2013 Senate hearing and her angry “What difference, at this point, does it make?” remain a signature moment for her critics.

As far as congressional hearings go, this is a big one, with interest running so high that overflow rooms have been set aside for the news media and the public. Both sides are primed and experienced, with Mrs. Clinton in the unusual position of having been both a witness and a questioner during her time in the Senate. Time to gavel this one to order.

–– Carl Hulse

What Else We’re Watching Today

— The office of John A. Boehner, the House speaker, said that the Monuments Men, the group of men and women who helped safeguard European artwork from the Nazis in World War II, will be given the Congressional Gold Medal, “the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow.”

—As the Obama administration explores a deal to limit the scope of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, President Obama and Mr. Biden will meet at the White House with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan.

— Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio will be interviewed in New Hampshire by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, and will follow the segment with a town-hall-style event.

The Draft Biden movement, the International Association of Fire Fighters, those prognosticators who predicted a Biden candidacy, and some Obama loyalists all lost a little with the vice president’s decision not to run for president.

The anger of Republican primary voters at the political class could have blistered the paint in a conference room during a focus group in Indianapolis.

What We’re Reading Elsewhere

— BuzzFeed reports that Mike Huckabee, in an interview with New Hampshire Now, a state radio program, compared the White House’s handling of the Islamic State to sprinkling fairy dust and believing in unicorns. Instead, he said, “we better just put our big boy britches and decide that we’re gonna win this war, and if it takes ground troops, let’s suit up and get it done,” adding, “but let’s not do it in 10 years, let’s do in more like 10 days or 10 months and be done with it.”

— Mr. Biden’s announcement prompted some visual coverage as well, with Politico taking a look at “photos that explain why we can’t quit” Mr. Biden, and The Washington Post analyzing a photo it says “tells the story” of Mr. Biden’s relationship with Mr. Obama.

— And The Washington Post reports that though the Democratic National Committee is sticking to the six-debate format, despite calls for more, it has said it would approve a town-hall-style forum hosted by members of the Black Lives Matter protest movement.

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